Bella Vista Portable F Superstars 2008-2009

Welcome Back! Hello! and Happy Autumn!

2008-10-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

I am Ms. Hughes, the new teacher of the Bella Vista Portable F Superstars. This year, we are a 1st/2nd combo class with 11 wonderful students and two hard-working teachers, myself and Intervention Specialist Ms. Gonzalez. I am new to Bella Vista but this is my 2nd year teaching in Oakland Unified.
I am excited to have a great year and share our educational adventures with you, the readers!
Recently in class, we have been talking a lot about Autumn and getting really excited for Halloween. We have been reciting the following poem to get ourselves in the mood:

"Come" said the wind
to the leaves one day
"Come over the meadow
and we will play.
Put on your dresses
of red and gold.
For summer is gone
and the days grow cold."

Keep checking up on us for more updates about our exciting adventures and achievements!!!

-Ms. Hughes

Download Summer School Options

2008-06-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

Family Resource Network is at 5232 Claremont Ave., Oakland, CA 94618 and can be reached at(510)547-7322. They have posted a 2008 Recreation Resource List for children with disabilities and special needs. Go to this Web site (http://www.frnoakland.org/) and download Summer School Options from the left hand bar.

Art Trees

2008-05-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Since January, students have participated in various team-building art projects, including the art trees pictured here. The latest tree features adjectives and nouns the students brainstormed as leaves.

Yoga mats arrive

2008-05-29T19:48:00.001-07:00

We've started doing Yoga postures after morning meeting and phonics skills.

Ocean Beach Clean-Up June 6

2008-05-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we visited Ms. Shepley's class to learn about pollution, marine wildlife and how we can help our streets and beaches clean and healthy. On June 6th, we'll be headed to Ocean Beach, San Francisco to help with Beach Clean Up Day. This is the second year in a row students at Bella Vista have participated in protecting our beaches.

Last of of school quickly approaching

2008-05-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

The last day of school for students is June 12. Many thanks for the beautiful art project and photo album that our room mother put together to commemorate an amazing year! Many parents have questions about next year's placement. Regarding summer school options, class visits or placements, please contact:
Program Specialist: Eric Peterson at eric.peterson@ousd.k12.ca.us
Elementary Coordinator: Christie Anderson at christie.anderson@ousd.k12.ca.us

Talent Show June 4

2008-05-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

We'll be performing bongos at the Bella Vista Talent Show on June 4th. The performance will take place in the auditorium. Students should wear white shirts and black or blue pants or skirts.

Join us for a Multicultural Celebration

2008-03-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, March 19th we will perform at Bella Vista's annual Multicultural Celebration. A Potluck dinner will be served at 5:00pm. The performances will begin at 6:00pm in the auditorium on the first floor. Students should wear white shirts and black pants or skirt.

Unit 7: Keep Trying

2008-03-03T22:09:00.000-08:00

Keep Trying is meant to give students many examples of why persistence is so crucial in achievement.

Yoga for Youngsters Funded

2008-02-25T17:09:00.001-08:00

I am thrilled to announce that a recent Portable F proposal, Yoga for Youngsters, was funded! We will be learning breathing techniques, as well as muscle and spine strengthening postures. With this program, students will learn positive, kinesthetic ways to develop focus and calm.

Unit 6: Journeys

2008-01-27T18:37:00.001-08:00

Journeys aims to help students explore concepts of geography and travel. In the spirit of James Joyce, we'll employ a simplified version of concentric circles. First we need to understand we are in a place or a location. Then we can expand out to the classroom, the city, the state, the country, the continent, the world, the universe. This concept is embedded in the story, "Me on The Map." Understandably, it can be very abstract to young children! And yet, our new model solar system already has students asking questions about planets (No pluto in this line-up!) A lot of students in our class have traveled to places near and far (from Lake Merritt to Tahoe to Chile.) We'll be talking about that as a way to use prior knowledge to make connections. Also look forward to drawing and writing journals which our amazing room mom is getting for us. We will start a daily morning journal time where students will create a message and reflect upon it.

The Drum by Nikki Giovanni

2008-01-22T07:50:00.000-08:00

To continue our morning poetry and complement our regular drum lessons led by Mr. Osuna, we've started a new poem, "The Drum" by Nikki Giovanni.

The Drum
daddy says the world is
a drum tight and hard
and i told him
i'm gonna beat out my own rhythm

vocabulary focus: daddy, world, drum, tight, hard, beat, rhythm
high-frequency words: i, the, is, a, and, him, says, out, my

Ms. Conklins in Guatemala and Egypt

2008-01-20T17:33:00.000-08:00

My younger sister will be working with young children as a Healthy Schools Facilitator in Guatemala. She has created this blog to chart her experiences with students in Guatemala. I hope we can do at least one pen pal exchange between students before the year is up.. My older sister works in Cairo, Egypt with Save The Children, an organization committed to ensuring that children worldwide have access to food, education and nurturing environments.

Oysters in New York

2008-01-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

What did you do on your winter break? I visited my good friend Ann, who is also a teacher. She works at the New York Harbor School in New York City with students in high school. It was so cold in New York! I visited her field class on a learning lab about oysters. The students diagrammed and measured oysters and had a filter competition. Students are learning how oysters help keep estuaries (places where salt and fresh water meet) healthy. We tasted oysters at the South Street Sea Port Museum.

Garden progress

2007-12-28T21:22:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to check in on our garden blog, where all sorts of growth is happening!
http://cultivatingnaturalcuriosity.blogspot.com/

Holiday Party

2007-12-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

A holiday party is in the works for Friday, December 21st at 1:40pm at Portable F.

Unit 5:Weather

2007-12-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

Our new Open Court Reading Big Book theme is Weather. Please chime in with ideas for art projects or learning games!

New Intervention Specialist

2007-12-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

It has been really nice to see everyone for parent conferences. All the testing we've done in the past few days indicates the students are on an amazing achievement trajectory. It is my great pleasure to introduce Ms. Alexandra Gonzalez, our new Intervention Specialist. Ms. Gonzalez has a great deal of experience in the classroom. Together with myself and Mr. Osuna, Ms. Gonzalez will be assisting to lead small group work and 1:1 interventions in math and reading. She will be working with our classroom all day to support academic and social achievement. We'll have a picture up soon!

Kids magazines

2007-12-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

Magazines offer a great opportunity for literacy development and are relatively inexpensive. You may want to consider purchasing a subscription to one of these. I'm looking into purchasing subscriptions for the class.

National Geographic for Kids: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazines/
Zoo Books: http://www.zoobooks.com/
Time for Kids: http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/
Cricket: http://www.cricketmag.com/home.asp
Highlights for Children: http://www.highlights.com/

Looking into schools

2007-12-01T11:00:00.000-08:00

This post was inspired by a parent asking about long-term special education options in Oakland. In Oakland, Special Day Classes are spread around the district. That means if students remain in a Special Day Class placement, they move every few years to a new school. In Oakland, grades 6-8 are together in middle-school Special Day Classes, and 9-12 are together for high-school Special Day Classes. It means that after elementary school, students may be in an multi-grade Special Day Class.

My conversation with the parent led me to brainstorm about learning communities where students could possibly remain through 8th grade. Below I am beginning a list of schools it may be worth contacting to find out what their programs look like. These will be schools I may not know any specifics about. But, they seem inspiring in their commitment to expeditionary learning and alternative pedagogy. Please chime in with suggestions!

Lighthouse Charter

It's long vowels time

2007-11-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

From now until June, we'll be mastering the long vowel sounds and spellings. Initially, most students have challenges differentiating between when to pronounce short and long vowel sounds. Its important to remind students that vowels have two sounds: one like their name and another short vowel sound. We can often tell which sound to make by looking at the way a word is spelled. Here are some words that correspond to the long vowel sounds we'll be learning:
Long A: cake, bay, a,
Long E: peek, treat, Steve
Long I: sigh, my, I, try,
Long O: so, spoke, coat
Long U: flute, blue,

Educational gift ideas?

2007-11-21T13:59:00.000-08:00

If you are purchasing gifts for the holidays, here are educational gifts ideas students may enjoy: flower pot with seeds and soil; puzzles; legos; recorders (any instrument); puppets; world map or globe; watercolor paint; kids yoga DVD; books on tape or CD; colored pencils and drawing paper; crayons and coloring books; play dough; linker cubes; wooden blocks. Here are places to peruse items. Please feel free to add more.
Kids Gardening Store: http://www.kidsgardeningstore.com/
(there are so many cool things on this site!)
The Ecology Store, Berkeley: http://www.ecologycenter.org/store/
Elephant Pharmacy, Berkeley: http://www.elephantpharm.com/
Lakeshore Learning: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/home/home.jsp
Able Play: http://www.ableplay.org/
Amazon Children's Books: http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=4

California State Standards First Grade

2007-11-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

Reading

Math

Science

Social Studies

Orgullo:Pride

2007-11-06T18:58:00.001-08:00

We still love "My people" by Langston Hughes, but we've started a new poem during morning meeting. "Orgullo: Pride" is by Alma Flor Ada and is in English and Spanish. Here it is:

Orgullosa de mi familia,
Orgullosa de mi lenguaje,
Orgullosa de mi cultura,
Orgullosa de mi raza,
Orgullosa de ser quien soy.

Proud of my family
Proud of my language
Proud of my culture
Proud of my race
Proud to be who I am.

Unit 4: Our neighborhood at work

2007-11-06T18:54:00.000-08:00

We've started "Our Neighborhood at Work," the fourth unit in our reading curriculum. We'll be learning about jobs in our community.

My People

2007-11-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

My People by Langston Hughes
The night is beautiful
So the faces of my people.
The stars are beautiful
So the eyes of my people.
Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

Beats for Brilliance Funded

2007-11-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

Our proposal to purchase drums for the special education classes at Bella Vista was fully funded on Donors Choose. This is serendipitous, as Mr. Osuna is a percussionist who has lots of ideas about body drumming and making drums. We'll be making beats soon.

New Oakland teacher blog

2007-10-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

Follow the insights of new teachers in Oakland on this blog, "My First Year":
http://www.ibabuzz.com/myfirstyear/

Ms. Shepley and Ms. Conklin profiled

2007-10-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

Ms. Shepley and Ms. Conklin are profiled on the TEAMS/Americorps web site. Read about how we became teachers and previous service learning projectshere: http://www.teamsusf.org/program/spotlight.html

Blog for new Special Education teachers

2007-10-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Council for Exceptional Children now hosts a web blog for new teachers of special education. Check it out for useful resources: http://cecblog.typepad.com/cec/

Ms. Conklin out on Friday October 19th

2007-10-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

Mr. Osuna will be here to ensure students have a great day. The substitute will be Ms. Broome, a former Bella Vista teacher. Schedule will remain as follows: Morning Meeting, Reading, Recess, Math, Lunch, Quiet Time, Big Book and Language Arts, English Language Development, Social Skills with Ms. Shepley's class.

Intervention Specialist Mr Osuna

2007-10-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

I received a call from our future Instructional Assistant Mr. Osuna that he is tentatively scheduled to come in this Friday, October 12th. Many thanks go to our superstar room mom who has worked tirelessly to coordinate with Programs for Exceptional Children.

From a 5th grader: 1st Grade Rocks!

2007-10-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am a helper of Ms. Conklin and I am in 5th Grade. To see the work assignments, Go to Portable F. Ms.Conklin gives Art and nice personality!

Math goal for December

2007-10-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with the first grade circuit, we have a class math goal that all students add and subtract to 12 by December 1st. Strategies to remind our students: 1) use objects: sticks, cereal, raisins, blocks, cubes, pennies 2) use your fingers for simple addition to 10 and subtraction from 10 3) draw a picture 4) use the number line to count on or back!

Things that go!

2007-10-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

Today we started our third unit in Reading, "Things That Go." We'll be learning about transportation and how people move about the earth. We will also learn about the way people used to travel "back in the day" and how they'll travel in the future.

Free Speech Therapy / terapia de lenguaje gratis

2007-10-06T08:38:00.001-07:00

Click this link for free speech therapy at the Oakland Scottish Rite Temple:
http://scottish-rite.org/cldc.htm

Haz clic sobre el siguiente enlace para aprender mas sobre terapia de lenguaje gratis en el barrio de Lake Merritt: http://scottish-rite.org/cldc.htm

Padres pueden llamar a este numero para que su hijo/a este ingresado/a a la lista de espera: (510) 839-1513.

Oakland Tribune mention

2007-10-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

Our blog was noted on the Oakland Tribune's education blog for October 4, 2007. Check it out here.

Back to School Night

2007-10-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

Back to School Night is Thursday, October 4th, 2007 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm.

Ms. Conklin, our Second Step Coach, School Psychologist and Speech pathologist will give short presentations in Portable F around 5:30pm.

Please meet in the auditorium at 5!

Our friends next door /nuestros vecinos

2007-10-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Meet Ms. Shepley and Mr. Johnson, our neighbors in Portable G. They teach second and third grade. Our classes work together weekly on art, garden and social skills.

Les presento Ms. Shepley y Mr. Johnson, nuestros vecinos en la sala G. Ellos ensenan el segundo y tercer grados. Nuestras clases trabajan juntas cada semana en el arte, el jardin y habilidades sociales.

Cultivating Natural Curiousity

2007-10-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

We received a grant from BP A+ for Energy to create an edible garden and solar project at our school. We work in the Bella Vista garden every Thursday afternoon and will be monitoring how we grow here:

http://www.cultivatingnaturalcuriosity.blogspot.com/

Halloween Party at Portable F

2007-10-02T04:57:00.000-07:00

We will have a Halloween Party on Wednesday, October 31st in the afternoon. The annual Halloween parade for all of Bella Vista will be at 12:45. More details soon; hope you can join us!

Eat Your Colors

2007-09-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

We inaugurated our Healthy Eating curriculum, "Harvest of the Month" with a lesson to "Eat Your Colors" (that is, eat the beautiful and bright colored fruit and vegetables available locally in California) With this program, we will be periodically tasting fruit and vegetables throughout the year. Last week we tried red, yellow and green peppers and tomatoes. For more information, visit http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/

Our morning meeting goes to town

2007-09-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

I will present on our morning meeting at this conference in San Francisco. All are invited. The event is free, and free child care is available!

Who do I contact?

2007-09-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

Questions related to obtaining a security guard on the playground: Eric Nelson, Network Executive Officer at OUSD: Eric.Nelson@ousd.k12.ca.us

Questions related to Special education personnel: Iris Wesselmann: 510-879-8221; iris.wesselmann@ousd.k12.ca.us

Questions related to Special education class sizes: Christie Anderson: 510-879-8226; christie.anderson@ousd.k12.ca.us

Questions related to Durham Bus Service should be directed to District Transport: 510-879-8526
and/or Durham Bus Service: 510-562-0803

Portable F Parents are amazing!

2007-09-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

I have met or spoken to every parent! Everyone has contributed in the past month. While we are waiting for our new Instructional Assistant Jesus to get his paperwork processed by OUSD, many parents have volunteered their time and support to ensure the classroom continues to run full speed ahead. I would like to extend my deep appreciation for all your help with reading, math, lunch, recess and homework folders! Muchisimas gracias also to the parents who have called downtown to advocate for our students, provided treats, brought supplies, donated funds and provided computer equipment.

Supplies we'd love to have

2007-09-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Empty egg cartons /Cartones vacios de huevos
Empty cleaned yogurt containers /Cartones vacios de yogur
Empty toilet paper rolls / Rollos vacios de papel higenico
Empty paper towel rolls / Rollos vacios de papel de la cocina
Brown paper bags from the grocery store / Sacos de papel de las compras
Pine cones /Conos de los arboles pinos
Buttons / botones
1 pack blank white index cards (100) / 1 paquete de cartas en blanca (100)
1 pack of beads / 1 paquete de granos para un collar
1 pack of felt material / 1 paquete de fabrica
1 set of watercolors / 1 paquete de pintura sencillo
1 pack of clay / 1 cuadro de arcilla
1 pack of googly eyes / 1 paquete de ojos de arte
1 pack of plain white paper plates / 1 paquete de platos de papel blancos
1 Favorite book / 1 libro favorito
1 Favorite puzzle /1 rompecabezas favorito
1 Elmers glue bottle / 1 botella de pegamento
1 bottle of Glitter / 1 botella de granos brillantes para el arte
1 Black and White Marble Notebook for writing notebooks (try to get the large lines!)/ 1 cuadro blanco y negro (intente de conseguirlo con lineas anchas)
1 Roll of Lysol Disinfectant Wipes to reduce germs on tables, door handles/ 1 rollo de trapos desechables de limpieza
1 packet of pipe cleaners (long furry bending things) 1 paquete de limpiadores de pipa
1 box of tissues / 1 caja de tejidos finos

No school on October 12, 2007

2007-09-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

There is a teacher development day on Friday, October 12, 2007.

OUSD Calendar 2007-8

2007-09-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Cut, paste and print for your records!

http://webportal.ousd.k12.ca.us/docs/OUSD%20Calendar%202007-2008.pdf

National Association of Parents with children in Special Education

2007-09-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

The National Association of Parents with Children in Special Education is a national membership organization dedicated to rendering all possible support and assistance to parents whose children receive special education services, both in and outside of school. NAPCSE was founded for parents with children with special needs to promote a sense of community and provide a national forum for their ideas.

http://www.napcse.org/

Sign the Oakland Special Education Petition

2007-09-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.petitiononline.com/lempira1/petition.html

Join the CAC

2007-09-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

Oakland parents of students receiving special education services formed the Community Advisory Committee to discuss special education in the district. Stay informed by contacting Tom Donovan at: clandon@comcast.net.

Adopt our classroom

2007-09-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Adopt-A-Classroom (www.adoptaclassroom.org) is a non-profit organization that offers an easy and accountable way for you to donate funds to my classroom and make a real difference for our students. All donations are tax-deductible. 100% of the donation goes to my classroom. Adopt-A-Classroom takes $0 out for administration.

Click here for more information: Marijke Conklin Adopt-A-Classroom Homepage

Oakland Public School Parents

2007-09-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

I just became aware of a group for parents of students in Oakland Public Schools. Parents are invited to review the posts in this Yahoo group to see whether they would like to join.